Tag Archives: Irish Journalism

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Some of the results of a survey of Irish journalists by Dublin City University’s Kevin Rafter and Stephen Dunne 

Professor of political communication at Dublin City University, Kevin Rafter and Stephen Dunne have carried out research on Irish journalists as part of the Worlds of Journalism study.

Prof Rafter, in The Irish Times, writes:

We find two fundamental changes in the age profile of Irish journalists based on a detailed survey questionnaire. First, journalists are relatively young. The overwhelming majority (68 per cent) are in the 25-44 age category. The comparable figure in 1997 was 55 per cent.

Second, we find a ‘”hollowing out” of mid-career journalists – the percentage aged between 45 and 54 is 20 per cent today (33 per cent in 1997). These results are confirmed by numerous examples of experienced reporters who have left journalism for careers elsewhere.

… A young staff can be a positive with energy brought to story generation and an ability to relate news to contemporary life. But there are also negatives.

Given the pivotal role played by the media in “educating and informing” the public about societal issues, there must be concern about the ability of younger journalists to offer serious editorial context when reporting and contextualising major news stories.

Hmm.

Prof Rafter adds:

Our survey indicates that 62 per cent of Irish journalists are men while 38 per cent are women. This male domination is further emphasised when we examine the seniority of positions held. A near consistent two-to-one male/female ratio is reported at every level of responsibility.

Nor is Irish journalism immune to gender salary disparities. Our findings show that the average post-tax monthly salary for a female journalist is between €2,001 and €2,500.

Their male counterparts report on average post-tax monthly salary levels of between €2,500 and €3,000. It would seem that the principle of “equal pay for equal work” is not evident in Irish journalism.

Journalists are getting younger but loss of experience brings problems (Irish Times)

Pic: Kevin Rafter

TomClonan

Dr Tom Clonan, security analyst with the Irish Times, author of Whistleblower, Soldier, Spy and lecturer in Dublin Institute of Technology

Limerick Leader reports:

“Dr Tom Clonan, security analyst with the Irish Times and lecturer in DIT, said at a panel discussion on journalism and ethics at the University of Limerick last week that there has been an “explosion of communication gatekeepers and media managers” seeking to deflect and control the mainstream media.

“In many cases journalists are mouthpieces for the establishment,” he said.

“If we are to get to get grips with the ethics of journalism there needs to be a fundamental root and branch audit of how the industry carries out its business, because aside from the code of conduct and the product that you read, there is a hidden curriculum within journalism in Ireland and there are rules to the game that outsiders are not aware of.”

“He argued that there is “an unspoken problem in Irish journalism about relationships with sources who are far too powerful”.

FIGHT!

Ethics in journalism discussed at UL conference (Limerick Leader)

Previously: Bugs, Moles And Hacks

Pic: Dublin Institute of Technology

From top: Senan Moloney, Alison O’Connor and Michael O’Regan.

Fearless, rigorous, uncompromising.

From last night’s Frontline on RTE 1:
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Pat Kenny: “Senan, how has this Government done?”

Senan Moloney (Irish Daily Mail): “Well I think it’s started quite luckily really and luck is something that has gone with this Government so far I think. In the first place, thanks to an initial bailout for the Greeks, they got a cut in the interest rate.”

Kenny: “Not skill, luck?”

Moloney: “A lot of luck. And they were unlucky then, paradoxically, when it came to the vote against the Dail inquiries during the autumn. Now that was, that had I think a lot to do with a lot of public distrust for politicians in general, rather than handing them further powers. But there’s been a prolonged honeymoon. A lot of it has to do with those two great politicians who visited earlier and they were Queen Elizabeth II and Barack Obama of course.”

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Kenny: “But in terms of the way the politicians, the Cabinet, do their jobs, what do you think?”
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Moloney: “I think there’s been a middle-ing performance. I think some ministers are treading water, some have done well. I think Simon [Coveney] on the panel has got a good deal in our fisheries quota. He’s a good performer.”

Kenny:“Who would you throw out of that Cabinet?”

Moloney: “Well, it’s not for me to immediately to pick out a poor performance but you don’t have to look very far to be quite honest. There are people who haven’t made the headlines, who have promised things they haven’t delivered and who’ve yet to shine effectively so. There are some heavyweights and they’re dragging a lot of passengers.”

Kenny: “All right. Alison?”
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Alison O’Connor (Irish Independent): “Listening to some of the earlier comments I’m tempted to say that they’re politicians not magicians. Given what they took over, given the state that we’re in and given that they have only been in power for 12 months…I suppose the other thing that we sometimes forget, and maybe it’s because we couldn’t afford novices, but Fianna Fail have been in power for so long that these particular politicians were, the majority of them, completely new to the job. So I suppose you have to bring in a small element of that to be fair to them. I think they’ve been generally doing OK. They haven’t been doing too badly at all. I think Enda Kenny has been a revelation actually. Although, in a sense, with all of this, you have to put the proviso that it could be five years or more before we actually know whether the decisions they take today, tomorrow or six months ago, exactly how they will pan out and whether they’ve been good for the country.”

Kenny: “You would give them a little space?”

O’Connor: I would give them a little space. I know people will say we can’t afford that and indeed we can’t but, in fairness to them, they are only human and they’re, at the moment, putting in a good effort.

Kenny: “Michael O’Regan?”
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Michael O’Regan (Irish Times): “I think they’ve done reasonably well but a year is a short time to be drawing any definitive conclusions. They started badly in PR terms. I mean the commitment to reduce the number of junior ministers was forgotten about, another banana skin was the breaking of  the salary ceiling for advisers but, overall, they’re showing a level of competence and decisiveness which was absent. Now, bear in mind, they didn’t exactly follow a class act. We saw Mr Martin’s fairly substantial apology at the RDS at the weekend for some of the decisions Fianna Fail made in power.

Kenny:“But, hang on a second, we had a standing ovation for Brian Cowen. Now I’m a bit confused.”

O’Regan: “Logic doesn’t apply Pat at party conferences and certainly at the moment it doesn’t..(laughs)

O’Connor:“And particularly not at the Fianna Fail ones..(laughs)”

O’Regan: “Particularly not at the Fianna Fail conferences...(laughs)”

Kenny: ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry’ but the guy that we’re blaming for all this he gets a standing ovation.”

O’Regan: “That was a gesture towards Mr Cowen who remains, personally, much liked.”

Kenny: “Much liked.”

O’Regan: “Precisely. But this Government will survive or politically die on the economy. And the coming year will show for instance if the jobs initiative is going to work. They did promise you see, during the election campaign, Fine Gael and Labour gave the impression to the electorate that there was a less painful way of doing things than appeared to be the case. Now we know there isn’t and the pain is there.”

Kenny: “But didn’t Labour have a way that was not Frankfurt’s way?”

O’Regan: “They did, precisely…”

Kenny: “..Which was going to work.”

O’Regan: “And that disappeared..they were hardly sitting in their ministerial cars when that idea was quickly forgotten about.”

O’Connor: “I think, reflecting on it over the last day or two in terms of the Government’s being a year in office, isn’t it interesting the whole notion that if we only had a single party government..and I don’t mean this in terms of being in favour of Fine Gael or in favour of Labour or in favour of anyone. But that for the straits that we find ourselves in that perhaps a single party government is what an economy, in the state that we find ourselves in, would be better. Because if you look in terms of the Budget, which is where I think the government I think did fall down because of the bargaining between the two. It’s been said so many times Enda Kenny says ‘we will not raise income tax’ in the Government. Eamon Gilmore comes back and says ‘we will not cut social welfare rates’ and that that’s sort of one-upmanship if you like, and inter-party bargaining. And I think if you look overall at the budget and the things that came out of it, there’s an element of that horse trading. And that wasn’t necessarily in the best interests of the economy or in the interests of an economy that has to have at least two more harsh budgets.”

Watch here